Gluten-Free Christmas buffet food?

[CardyMow]

My 7 year old son was diagnosed coeliac in April, so this is our first GF christmas. I'm at a loss for GF buffet food, does anyone have any ideas?

Hi there, you can still have eggs, meat, gf rolls, salad, gf sausage rolls, fruit.

What sort of thing would you normally put on your buffet ? Then I can try and suggest gf brands and alternatives

It's much nicer to try and do everything but actual bread gf, as he'll have enough food issues to contend with

I find this tricky and end up making a lot of stuff from scratch (probably not what you wanted to hear). Could you do seperate food for the adults and for kids do-sarnies (genius gluten free bread is the best) crisps/chips/veggie sticks (plain/salted are usually gluten free) with dips mini cheeses, bowls of grapes/cucumber cherry tomatoes and GF biscuits and cakes. Sainsburys stock quite a good GF pizza (by dietary specials I think-in the frozen section) but I haven't tried it cold.

Must get up to my sainsbo's, it's just it's over an hr away by bus, I'm usually stuck with what tesco's has to offer. Do they have GF pastry anywhere? I am pants at making normal pastry, want it for sozzie rolls. Also anywhere do GF mincemeat to homemake mince pies? He doesn't like cucumber tomatoes etc, he's 7...he wouldn't eat them before he was on GF diet(he eats lots of fruit and veg, but anything salady is poisonous!!). He's on quite a strict diet, no MSG or barley gluten or 'modified wheat starch/proteins'. Err usually mini pizza's chipolata sausages (I know waitrose does GF chipolatas), crisps (he can only eat walker's baked) errm...and we usually do the party bits that you get from tesco's/Iceland/ waitrose....THAT'S where the problem is, the little bits that there's no real equivalent to, short of hand making them individually, which is fine for an everyday dinner, not so ok for a party when you're trying to cater for everyone else as well...

Sainsburys do GF pastry however its shortcrust not flaky. Still does the job! You can also buy ready made sausage rolls in Asda. They also do GF sausages.

Try www.gfdiet.com they bake and then send to you the next day. I've used them adn they are very tasty!! They can be frozen too.

Cheers!!

Popcorn with spices? Maybe a sweet and savoury version.
I find Tesco's infinitely better than Sainsbury's for most GF stuff but admittedly have never tried to buy 'party' food there.
I have just made mincemeat from Delia Smith's recipe- it is gluten free (and fairly easy) but I'd be a bit surprised if a shop bought mincemeat had gluten in it- but you never know!
I made a successful sweet pastry for mince pies by cobbling together bits of other recipes- I can try to recreate it for you if you like!

How did you get on ?

M & S did GF pigs in blankets/stuffing. Morrisons did a GF mincement in jars.

I do mini cornflour "toad in the holes" as litle grab things. Also made tiny shepherds pies in little shot glasses (very M & S)

My DS is 7 and was dx in October. Hope you get news soon.

I'd go back and ask for your doc to prescribe stuff whilst you are waiting - though my LO HATES all the GF replacement stuff.

Thanks for all the responses. Until he gets jis 'offical' dx (12 month wait, which we are 9 months into, my PCT is PANTS!) Gp has put him on a GF diet, but can't write scrips for him. 3 more months....Didn't know M&S had anything, hadn't thought to look there, but I don't have a Morrison's. Most mincemeat has suet in which is always dusted with flour to stop it sticking together. I found some GF frankfurts(ones that don't use breadcrumbs as a filler) and wrapped them in GF pastry and chopped into slices as well. We made cheese straws using the dove's farm flour, and some mini 'tartlet' things, filled with sandwich filler?! (the tesco's tuna&sweetcorn one and the tesco's coronation chicken are made from spirit vinegar not malt vinegar, we put those in little pastry tartlet cases).

Also, snack-a-jacks are GF, and you can get GF pretzels from sainsbury's. And these little cheese triangular things. (don't know what they are, but they taste nice!)

I got in touch with lots of companies and they sent me samples.

A lot of stuff I found out from a GF forum : members2.boardhost.com/glutenfree/index.html?1257519546

Costco do GF frankfurters/beefburgers which taste fab.

I have started using Ocado for deliveries as these seem to have the most choice. They send a nice 15% off voucher through every couple of weeks which makes it better !

Asda do some GF bread sticks which I give Josh with a ramkin filled with nutella which he likes.